No, actually it’s Deepwater Bluegrass…. but three of the people in this video are the ones producing the hot licks series… Sherri on banjo, she does all the graphics and maintains the websites, created product art and handles all the customer service for the products. Tim on the guitar is one of the authors of the Hot Guitar series and Rob, on mandolin is an author of the mandolin licks and guitar licks, too! We just have to get Jeff to step up and get some of his hot bass runs in a package for us! Then it would be the Hot Licks Band!

Great to see our local area musicians get some nice attention for their bluegrass skills! Rob Lawson, from the Toledo, Ohio bluegrass scene, has announced his first two volumes in an new mandolin instruction series called Hot Mandolin Licks. He is the hot mandolin player for the band Deepwater Bluegrass as well as his family band, the North End String Band. He has teamed up with Sherri Chekal to produce this first offering from Westvon Publishing.

Introducing Hot Mandolin Licks Premier Product Offering: Hot Mando Licks Volume 1 & 2
Pick the Licks the Pros Know – An instructional product designed to help spice up improvisational mandolin players.

So often mandolin players are looking for the magic bullet to spice up their playing and will turn to complete tabbed breaks to try and isolate bits and pieces to help brighten up their playing and improvisation. However, it’s difficult to hear the “licks” and isolate them. With the Hot Mandolin Licks series of products, the player will find 50 great licks for their playing, in both tab and audio recordings for a special low price of only $9.99 for a download or $14.99 for each CD and Ebook. No need to spend a fortune and any one of these great licks will really add to the player repertoire of musical licks!

Created by Rob Lawson, an accomplished bluegrass, blues and rock player, these licks are original and ready to please. Each lick is individually recorded and ready for practice sessions to ease them into the player’s arsenal of material. Free sample licks and a free informational newsletter are also available at the site.

There are now three varieties of Hot Licks available for banjo, guitar and mandolin. Fiddle Licks are in the works and due out next as well as more titles for the original three instruments.

The website is ready to provide any additional information that you may need. www.HotMandolinLicks.com

AcuTab is especially proud to announce our latest DVD project, our first bass video and the first instructional release of any kind from Barry Bales. This DVD, A Solid Foundation To Acoustic Bass, is designed for upright bass players at any skill level – from serious professionals to pickers who occasionally grab the bass at a jam.

Barry has been among the most celebrated upright bassists in bluegrass and country music this past 20 years. He has multiple Grammy awards, plus trophies from the International Bluegrass Music Association and the Country Music Association. His bass is featured in recordings from Alison Krauss & Union Station where he is the full-time bass player, and in films like Walk The Line and O Brother, Where Art Thou.

In this two hour and 20 minute DVD, Barry shares his thoughts on the appropriate role of the bass, and demonstrates many of the techniques that have made him a first call musician in both bluegrass and country music. AcuTab’s John Lawless leads Barry through a discussion of his background and influences before they move on to songs. Barry also covers important topics like tone production, walking bass, percussive ‘ghost’ notes, and more.

After some talk about basic left and right hand technique, Barry presents 3 versions of the familiar song, Fireball Mail. He starts with a simple, traditional approach, moving with each new version into ways to add interest and dynamism to the bass line. For each version, Barry explains and demonstrates the line he plays, why he chose to include it, and where the viewer might want to use it in their playing. Many of the techniques are quite simple, and yet add variety and spice to the band sound.

From there, Barry presents another 8 familiar songs, in a variety of keys, tempos and styles: Banks Of The Ohio, Kentucky Waltz, Wayfaring Stranger, Groundhog, Rebecca, East Tennessee Blues, Blackberry Blossom, Everytime You Say Goodbye. With each song, Barry explains his approach, often showing more than one, and then demonstrating the deviations from a standard one-five pattern.

He is assisted in the studio by Adam Steffey on mandolin, Jim Mills on banjo, and Kenny Smith on guitar. The bass is up front in the audio mix to ensure that the viewer can catch the subtleties of the material Barry presents. A printed booklet with tab and standard notation of the bass lines played is also included.

The DVD and booklet carries a price of $35 (USD).

Get your order in now to ensure that you receive a copy of the Barry Bales DVD right away, before they hit the stores!

www.acutab.com

Moving Sale! AcuTab is moving our office and warehouse this Spring, and offering huge closeout specials on most of our bluegrass tab books. We have begun to focus almost exclusively on instructional DVDs, and intend to liquidate our inventory of tab books prior to this move on June 1.

None of these titles will be reprinted, so don’t wait until they are selling for collector’s prices on eBay!

The following AcuTab books are available for $10.00 or less, while supplies last, until June 1.
Steve Dilling banjo book – Regular price $25, closeout $10
Wayne Benson mandolin book – Regular price $25, closeout $10
Kenny Smith guitar book – Regular price $25, closeout $10
Sammy Shelor banjo book – Regular price $20, closeout $10
Tim Stafford guitar book – Regular price $20, closeout $10
Butch Baldassari mandolin book – Regular price $15, closeout $8
Joe Mullins banjo book – Regular price $15, closeout $8
Scott Vestal banjo book – Regular price $25, closeout $10
Herschel Sizemore mandolin book – Regular price $25, closeout $10
Terry Baucom banjo book – Regular price $15, closeout $8
VERY IMPORTANT: You must order from this link in order to get the closeout prices (www.acutab.com/closeout.html). Existing AcuTab customers are being given first shot at the remaining inventory, so save this link and place your orders from the closeout page. That page is not found in the online navigation at acutab.com.

Closeout order page: www.acutab.com/closeout.html

Thanks for your ongoing support of AcuTab! Visit AcuTab.com to see our complete catalog of instructional books and DVDs for banjo, fiddle, guitar, mandolin and resonator guitar.

It is bound to happen to every musician…that one key you dread at a jam session. That one key of music that feels more like a lock. Hypothetical jam scenario: “Let’s play that one song…you know in the key of (fill in blank).” Sweat forms on the brow. You quickly look at the fret board in hopes of magically figuring out the notes. “Suuuurrrre” you say, all the while kicking your ineptitude and frantically thinking about how you are going to piece together a solo that will save a at least a little of your musical dignity.

As a mandolin picker with roots in old-time music, the key of B is my kryptonite. A, D, G, C…no problem. B? I feel the sweat forming now. I share an affinity with the great fiddler Kenny Baker, who, in response to a question about playing with Bill Monroe said something to the effect of “sure if like playing in the key of B for 25 years…” (paraphrase). The consummate musician can do it all, any key, any tempo, any rhythm. But for the rest of us there is a learning curve, and quite frankly to move another step in the direction of becoming a consummate musician, you have to take these instances head on.

Key of B? Perhaps a problem now, but how can you make it a strength?
Music theory is great, if you understand it and can use it. But, if you are like me you kind of get it and can’t really use it to your advantage. So how do you start to branch away from the standard keys and venture into territory that, while foreign to you, is really a staple of many bluegrass musicians (even those that can’t capo!)? Here is how I am doing it…

Learning the key of B means investing some serious time into listening, looking and, for lack of a better phrase, messing up. Obviously leveraging the scale is the first step…but that only takes you so far. You have to know the scale and then know how to use it all over the fret board to your advantage. But more than that, playing in the key of B on an instrument tuned in fifths requires closed positioned playing. On a first position scale there is one open string note in the key of B. For beginners and folks that continue to cling open strings beyond the beginner level, playing in closed positions requires a bit of re-learning.

For me there are two things going on here. First is pinky strength. Second is building confidence in closed position playing, so that the “go-to” open stings become something of a second thought. Working on the key of B helps close the gap on both of those issues…which can be leveraged across the fret board in other “closed position keys” (like F#m) and in up-the-neck playing.

So that is my approach up front. Work on pinky playing and closed scales for all keys, with a focus on learning and mastering B. Two birds, one stone, and a lot of practice time. Next comes the hard part for someone with limited theory application skills. What sounds good and why? I’ll tackle that subject in my next blog….

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Cole Christensen

After falling backwards into bluegrass and Americana music in college, Cole Christensen has devoted much of his adult life to learning and promoting traditional American music. In addition to playing mandolin, old-time banjo, guitar and scratching out a few tunes on the fiddle, he is also a freelance music writer and host of Warped Frets, a weekly bluegrass and old-time music radio show on Bowling Green State University’s community radio station WBGU 88.1 F.M. (Sundays from noon to 2 pm EST). He enjoys conversing with all music lovers and can be reached at colemchristensen@gmail.com with questions, comments and suggestions.